Clothesline reel



Nov. 28,1939. H, A VEGRAN 2,181,141

cLoTHEsLINE REEL Original Filed April 6, 1931 uw ki. Mw.

Patented Nov. 28, 1939 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE CLOTHESLINE REEL Hokan A. Lovegran, Rockford, Ill.

Reled for abandoned application Serial No. 527,906, April 6, 1931. This application March longitudinally spaced bearings therein for the also of wood for cheapness and lightness, is `20 reel shaft, as Well as a place to house the long bored out the full length thereof, as appears at coiled torsion spring used in connection with 24, and has the inner enlarged end `counterthe reel for turning the same. Another feature bored, as at 26, toserve as a housing for the is the provision of a latch on the handle adjacent reduction gearing presently to be describ-ed. A 25 the reel for quickly detachably locking the reel plate 2l is fastened to the inner end of the handle 25 against turning, the said latch being arranged in the counterbore 26, and another plate 28 is Y for convenient manipulation by thumb pressure fastened to the other end of the handle. These while holding y,the handle, so that the latch is plates have center holes in which the opposite out of the way and permits the reel to turn ends ofatube 29 are rotatably received. Ashaft 30 freely in winding or unwinding the line. 30, on which the reel Il is mounted, extends 30 The invention is illustrated in the accompanythrough the tube 29, being received in bearings ing drawing, in which- 3l and 32 therein at opposite ends thereof. A Figure 1 is a perspective view of my improved nut 33 threads on the outer end of the reel shaft, clothesline reel; whereupon the projecting end of the shaft is Fig. 2 is a longitudinal section taken on the upset, as at 34, to keepV the parts permanently broken line 2 2 of Fig. 3, and assembled together. Now, a long coiled torsion Fig. 3 is a cross-section taken adjacent the spring 35 is housed in the bore 24 in the handle reel looking toward the handle. y lll about the tube 29,'and has its inner end fixed The reel of my invention, as should be evito the handle on a pin 36 projecting from the dent from Figure 1, comprises an elongated haninsideAof the plate 29, whereas the outer end 40 15, 1935, Serial No. 11,306

6 Claims.

'I'his invention relates to a new and improved form of clothesline reel,

This application is a rele for abandoned application Serial No. 527,906, led April 6, 1931, and allowed April 20, 1932.

The principal object of my invention is to provide a clothesline reel of a handler form than has been available in the past and one which by reason of its special construction will accommodate as long a line as one would ordinarily be apt to use, and permit the winding and un- Winding of the line with greater ease and facility than can be said of most other reels with which I am familiar.

A salient feature of my improved reel consists in the elongated handle by means of which the reel can be held with both hands, if so desired, when winding or unwinding the line, the said handle being made hollow to provide dle I 0 carrying a reel Il on one end thereof to turn on the longitudinal axis of the handle to wind or unwind the clothesline I2, the inner end of which, as shown at I3, is fastened to the hub I4 of the reel in the annular groove l5. The other end of the line extends through a guide I6 provided on the bent, outer end of a wire arm I1 reaching out from the handle lll to the rim of the reel, and a cross piece IS of bent wire or the like is suitably fastened on the end of the line to keep it from coming out of the guide when the line is wound up on the reel. It is manifest from the description thus far that I have provided a clothesline reel of a handy form, one which permits a good hold to be taken on the handle as the line is being unwound or rewound. The handle is sufficiently elongated so that one can hold the same with both hands, if so desired.

The reel H, for the sake of economy, as well as lightness, .is made up of a plurality of onepiece wire spokes I9 bent to approximately U- form with the bight portions bent inwardly, as at 2G, to provide recesses for the reception of the line I2 in the rim portion of the reel. inner ends of the spokes fit in radial grooves 2l formed in the sides of the hub I4 which is preferably made of wood, and the extremities are bent towar'd each other, as appears at 22, for a press fit in holes 23 provided therefor in 15' the hub in register with the grooves 2|. This gives a reel of economical form and one which, although very light, is, nevertheless, quite strong and rigid. The handle lll, which is preferably of the spring is looped, as appears at 3l, over a lug 38 projecting radially outwardly'from the outer end ofthe tube 29. A gear 39, fixed on the inner end of the tube 29, is arranged to turn the tube so as to Wind up the spring 35 as the. reel Il is turned in the unwinding of the line l2. There is approximately a' 4 l reduction gearing driving connection between the shaft 39 and tube 29 provided by the gears Bil-42.' Of

The l0 these, the gears 4B and lll are in a cluster on 50 there will be approximately one turn of the gear 39. The end 25 of the handle could be enlarged suiciently to accomodate the reduction gearing in the counterbore 2li, but I prefer to have it of the size shown, such that the gears 40 and 4| project slightly from one side of the handle through an opening d4. A small sheet metal guard 45 serves to enclose the projecting gears. The enlarged end 25 of the handle is provided with a longitudinal slot 4@ for reception of a at elongated latch or keeper fil which is pivotally mounted in the slot on a pin 48 intermediate the ends thereof. A coiled compression spring 49 cooperates with the thumb portion 50 provided on the outer end of the latch to urge the latch normally toward the full line position shown in Fig. 2 in which the inner end of the latch is disposed in the path of the spokes i9 of the reel to prevent turning thereof. The spring i9 is conveniently located in a hole 5! provided therefor in the handle under the thumb portion 5U of the latch. A cross pin 52 on the latch 4'! near the inner end thereof limits the movement of the latch to hold it in the full line position, and the latch is arranged when operated by thumb pressure to be moved to the dotted line position to unlock the reel so that it can turn freely.

In operation, the clothesline reel will be held in approximately the position shown in Figure 1 in winding or unwinding the line. The latch or keeper lll is held in the unlocked position by thumb pressure on the outer end portion 5t thereof, While holding the handle it. The device may be held in both hands, if desired, so that it takes very little effort in the handling thereof. As soon as the desired length of line has been unwound from the reel, thumb pressure on the latch is released and that locks the reel against turning. Subsequently, when the line is to be rewound, the latch is unlocked by thumb pressure again to allow the reel to turn under action of the spring 35 to rewind the line thereon. The present construction with its elongated handle serving as a spring housing permits the use of such a long spring that there is no diiculty in handling as long a line as one would be apt to use.

I claim:

1. A reel of the class described comprising a handle, a reel shaft extending from the end of the handle, spring means tending normally to turn the shaft in one direction, a reel carried on the projecting end of the shaft, the same comprising a plurality of radially projecting spokes, a latch pivotally mounted intermediate its ends on the end of the handle adjacent the reel for oscillatory movement to and from locking position, the one end of said latch being movable into and out of the path of movement of the spokes of the reel in the oscillatory movement of the latch, and the other end of said latch constituting a thumb portion for depression of the latch to unlocked position, and spring means normally urging the latch toward locked position, the said latch being operable by hand in the holding of the handle.

2. A reel of the class described comprising a handle, a reel shaft extending from the end of the handle, spring means tending normally to turn the shaft in one direction, a reel carried on the projecting end of the shaft, the same comprising a plurality of radially projecting spokes, a latch mounted on the end of the handle adjacent the reel for movement to and from locking position, the one end of the latch being movable into and out of the path of movement of the spokes of the reel, and the other end of said latch being adapted for manual operation to move the latch to unlocked. position, and spring means normally urging the latch toward locked position, the said latch being operable by hand in the holding of the handle.

3. A clothesline reel comprising a single elongated handle, a reel support extending coaxially from the handle, a reel thereon alongside the handle and of large diameter in relation thereto, spring means tending normally to turn the reel in one direction, the reel having a plurality of circumferentially spaced laterally projecting stop projections on the side thereof toward the handle, a latch and actuating spring carried on said handle on the end next to the reel, the latch extending lengthwise of the handle but being short in relation to the length of the handle so as to leave the major portion of the handle free to be grasped in the hand of the operator, the latch tending normally to move into the path of movement of the stop projections, and manually operable means on the outer end of the latch for releasing the same.

4. A clothesline reel comprising a single elongated handle, a reel support extending from one end of the handle, a reel thereon alongside the handle and of large diameter in relation thereto, the reel having a plurality of circumferentially spaced projections on the side thereof toward the handle, a latch and actuating spring carried on said handle on the end next to the reel, the latch extending lengthwise of the handle but being short in relation to the length of the handle so as to leave the major portion of the handle free to be grasped in the hand of the operator,v the latch tending normally to move into the path of movement of the projections,

and manually operable means on the outer end of the latch for releasing the same.

5. A reel of the class described comprising a handle, a reel shaft extending from the end of the handle, a reel carried on the projecting end of the shaft, the same comprising a plurality of radially projecting spokes, a latch pivotally mounted intermediate its ends on the end of the handle adjacent the reel for oscillatory movement to and from locking position, the one end v of said latch being movable into and out of the path of movement of the spokes of the reel in the oscillatory movement of the latch, and the other end of said latch constituting a thumb portion for depression of the latch to unlocked position, and spring means normally urging the latch toward locked position, the said latch being operable by hand in the holding of the handle.

6. A reel of the class described comprising a handle, a reel shaft extending from the end of the handle, a reel carried on the projecting end of the shaft, the same comprising a plurality of radially projecting spokes, a latch mounted on the end of the handle adjacent' the reel for movement to and from locking position, the one end of the latch being movable into and out of the path of movement of the spokes of the reel, and the other end of said latch being adapted for manual operation to move the latch to unlocked position, and spring means normally urging the latch toward locked position, the said latch being operable by hand in the holding of the handle.

I-IOKAN A. LOVEGRAN. 

